July 22, 2010

Bill Weir, former WGN sportscaster, is new 'Nightline' co-host

Bill Weir, a former WGN-Ch. 9 sportscaster and morning anchor,
has been named a co-host of ABC News' "Nightline," replacing Martin
Bashir, who is leaving to host an afternoon show MSNBC while
contributing to "Dateline NBC."

Weir joins Terry Moran and
Cynthia McFadden, who, with Bashir, took over "Nightline" as part of a
2005 makeover after the late-night program's first 25 years with Ted Koppel as
host.

A "World News" correspondent and weekend co-anchor of "Good
Morning America" who joined ABC News in 2004, Weir was plucked from Green Bay, Wis., by Chicago Tribune
parent Tribune Co.'s WGN as a third-string sportscaster in 1995. In three years at Channel 9, Weir parlayed his
sharp instincts and quick wit into an anchor gig on the station's
popular morning newscast.

Weir left for a sportscasting job
at ABC Los Angeles flagship KABC-TV, lured mostly by the promise of
developing other TV projects. But he chafed at being pigeonholed and
left when his contract expired in 2002. He was working to develop, produce and sell scripted programs when ABC News, which had kept tabs on him since his
Chicago days, reached out to him to come to New York.

"I am more
aware than anyone of my unconventional career path to this chair now,"
Weir told the Chicago Tribune in 2006. "There are second acts in
American lives, despite what you've heard."

ABC News boss David
Westin hailed Weir for doing "some of our most innovative reporting from
every conceivable venue, both as co-anchor of weekend GMA and for all
of our other programs and platforms" in a Thursday memo to staff.

"He
has traveled the globe covering breaking news and uncovering global
trends, including his coverage of Afghanistan last January where he came
under fire with American troops, his in-depth reports on the economic
rise of China and India, and the prime-time hours he’s done on topics
ranging from the rise and fall of General Motors to the pursuit of
happiness around the world," Westin wrote. "Bill has been at the
forefront of our adoption of all that new technology makes possible,
often shooting his own material in the field and embracing new forms of
reporting now possible in the digital world."

Like Weir, Bashir joined ABC News in 2004, although he initially worked on the
newsmagazine "20/20." He is perhaps best known for his interviews of pop
singer Michael Jackson in 2003 and Princess Diana in 1995, originally
for British television but airing to huge audiences globally.

"I've followed
Martin's career for many years and have always admired his work," MSNBC
President Phil Griffin said in announcing the hire. "He fits in with
what MSNBC wants to be: he's smart, original, and thoughtful. I couldn't
be happier to bring someone of his caliber to the network."

Weir deserved to be tapped as Diane Sawyer's replacement on Good Morning America when the position opened. I am honestly surprised that he didn't jump networks altogether as Campbell Brown did once she was passed over to replace Couric on the Today Show.

Unfortunately, I think much of Weir's on-air charisma will be lost at Nightline.

About this blog

This is an expansion of the Chicago Tribune column I have written since April 2005, and the columns I wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times and Los Angeles’ Daily News for two decades before that. It’s TV, radio, newspapers and whatever, both locally and nationally. Beyond sharing what crosses my desk—and my mind—this will be a venue for you to share your takes with me as well as with each other. About Phil Rosenthal